Review: Yes Papa

that hindi movie yes papaIt’s something of a relief that a truly horrific and sad drama has gotten a theatrical release.

Child abuse or incest is a topic that is not often discussed or deliberated upon in public or even within the narrow confines of our safe homes.

At a glance

film: yes papa

Duration: 85 minutes

Director: Saif Haider Hassan

Starring: Geetika Tyagi, Anant Mahadevan, Divya Seth, Nandita Puri and Tejaswini Kolhapure

Shading: Vinit Dubey, Chetan Chand and Tanha Fermin Rezi

Review: Yes Papa

Obviously, cinema, too, reflects society and its evils, but stays away from an authentic portrayal of such crime that takes place in homes. According to the data provided by the National Crime Records Bureau of India, 162000 cases of crime against children were registered during 2022, which is 8.7 percent more than 2021, when more than 149000 lakh cases were registered. And we all know that about 80 percent of such crimes are not even reported.

Saif Haider Hassan, a playwright, theatre director, and producer, who began his career as a journalist and copywriter, and has several notable theatre productions to his credit, such as, A Meeting 2014And stars in troubleMaking his directorial debut with this 85-minute feature film.

The film is about a young woman, Vinita (Geetika Tyagi), who is being tried in court for the murder of her father. The story is presented from the perspective of a girl who is sexually abused by her biological father.

Vinita had no way of knowing that there was anything wicked or immoral about her father’s ‘touch’. As an innocent child, all she knew was that, perhaps, all fathers behaved this way with their daughters.

This came to light in the court when Vinita spoke about the heinous crime committed against her. What was equally horrifying was the silent involvement of her mother (Nandita Puri) in this case, who kept quiet despite knowing the truth.

Vineeta grew up with her mother as her parents got divorced. This incident affected her on a very deep level, which impacted her relationship with her husband Harshit Kapoor (Hasan Zaidi).

The story unfolds like a blur, revealing horrific details of a girl’s traumatic childhood, and hence, the tone used is confusing – with parts of the scenes being used as flashbacks.

Another thing that comes to the fore is the respect the father (Anant Mahadevan) has in the society. He is a cultured person who loves to sing and listen to ghazals from Hindi films.

Nightmare-like events yes papa These are by no means romantic visions of incest and help the group of talented actors take an “enlightened” approach to their complex roles. The jump cuts and crisp editing by Abhijit Deshpande help flesh out the complexities of Vinita’s character – torn, anxious and uncertain.

Haasan makes his debut in this fine acting film about a middle-class family torn apart by incest and abuse. He narrates a painful journey through the past of a dysfunctional family, exposing the vicious cycles of abuse, incest and molestation and their devastating effects on three generations.

Mahadevan It’s a teeth-grinding performance, whose veneer is so harmless that its evil seems too pure to be real.

That he depicts these incestuous moments just enough to provoke outrage, but never descends into cheap sensationalism, shows how thoughtfully and compassionately sensitive he approaches such a rare subject.